Jennifer Heinsius, PhD Student, Animal Welfare Program
Why did you choose the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and how did you become interested in animal welfare?
I chose this faculty since I had seen a lot of work coming from the Animal Welfare Program and thought it looked like a great group to learn from. I became interested in animal welfare when I was in my undergrad at University of California, Davis and was studying to become a vet and took a class on animal welfare. I learned about how we can explore what an animal is experiencing and improve their life through appropriate action. That switched my path from wanting to be a vet to wanting to be an animal welfare scientist.
Share what you are currently working on and what do you envision your future career to look like?
Currently I am working on my PhD and the projects within it are all about understanding how we can use positive reinforcement training to improve animal handling, as well as the emotional state of cows on dairy farms.
While pursuing my PhD, my other work-hat is involved in the zoo industry. I am currently a remote Animal Welfare Specialist at a zoo in California. My future career will hopefully be within the zoo industry with a career that can support animal welfare research and support positive change for the animals in my care.
What activities, programs, and extracurricular activities have you been involved in at UBC?
I have been involved with the UBC Pre-Veterinary and Animal Welfare Club, PAW Club here on campus and would recommend that group to anyone involved in an animal field! I am also on a few committees in the Animal Welfare Program that help keep our lab running smoothly.
What advice would you give to new students about how to build community at LFS?
I think reaching out and having conversations with people around you, in your lab or in other labs, can have a huge impact on your mental health as well as your work. Just being able to talk about my struggles, both in research and in my life, was a huge help. People have answers to your problems or have experienced what you are going through. The number of times I have talked about some research barrier and someone had already experienced it and knew the answer is many. I am a homebody, but reaching out is incredibly helpful.
And finally, what is something that you are proud of that you have accomplished in your career?
I am proud of the conferences I have presented at that helped me reach a wider audience of people to connect with. I was afraid to do presentations in front of crowds, but during a recent presentation it really hit me that I enjoyed the work I was doing and was happy to share my projects.
Tagged with: 2024, Animal Welfare Program, Graduate